Your palette is COOL, DEEP and SMOKY.

Your colour palette produces some of the most elegant and refined outfit combinations possible. The depth in your palette, associated with the soft greyed tones allows for dignity and sophistication at every turn. When shopping for your garments keep the focus of coolness and depth with a softened tone of grey throughout.

USING YOUR COLOUR SWATCH

Rather than throwing out your entire wardrobe out (don’t do that!) from here on in, try to make sure that everything you buy harmonises with the colours in your colour swatch. Longer term, this will ensure that your wardrobe mixes and matches and you’ll know everything suits you too.

To know if a colour is right, place your swatch onto the colour/s or patterns you are looking at. If the colours are similar in intensity and undertone, there is a natural feeling that these colours are from the same colour family and blend. If your swatch stands off or doesn’t harmonise, then the colour you are looking at is not a good match for your swatch.

There are a multitude of colours available to you. Your swatch is just a snapshot guide to the kinds of colours you are looking for. Think of your swatch as an executive summary - there are around 50,000 colours you can happily wear - this is just a small sample! You don't need to match colours exactly, they just need to belong to the same ‘family’ - the swatch almost sinks in to the right colours. .

WEARING YOUR COLOURS

Wardrobe Basics

Neutrals – Charcoal, medium greys, rose brown, navy, deep taupe

Interests – Soft white, deep ruby reds, plums, soft blues, ashes of roses, teals

Best Denim

Medium to dark indigo

Best Metals

Brushed Silver, Platinum, Pewter, White Gold, Rose Gold, Gold/Silver combinations

Best Glasses Frames and Lenses

Rose gold, soft blue, lavender, brushed silver, soft plum. Choose frame colours that are from your metals range – silver, platinum, pewter or rose gold, or a metal frame in a cool colour such as blue, lilac or even a burgundy. If choosing plastic frames try blue based colours or black. The colour of the lens for sunglasses must be cool, blues and greys or black.

Investment Buys and Accessories

Choose your best neutrals for investment buys. These neutral colours don’t date as quickly as fashion colours.

The best colour for shoes, bags, coats and belts is one that is similar or tones in with your hair colour or is one of your signature colours. This is because you are always wearing your hair and because these items are worn over many other colours and with many outfits, your hair colour is the most versatile colour.

Universal Shoe Colour

When in doubt, and when not toning shoes to the hem of your trousers or matching your tights, choose a shoe in a similar tone to your hair colour to create a pleasing visual loop from face to feet and back to your face. If you want to wear a coloured shoe unrelated to your hair colour, ensure that you repeat the colour in a top or accessory near your face to draw create a pleasing visual grouping effect.

HOW TO WEAR BLACK

Black can be worn carefully as it is a deep cool colour, but as it is also bright and you are smoky and soft, it’s not an ideal colour, so wear it in fabrics that have some softness such as mesh, lace and silk. You can happily wear it at night time when the lights are low.

How to Wear Colours that Don’t Fit into Your Colour Palette

If you follow these set of rules you will always look great.

Keep it as far as possible from your face
Wear another colour between it and your skin
Keep the less than perfect colour to only 10 -20% of your entire outfit
Wear it below your waist
Any colour of the same intensity and value as your colouring is easier to wear than one that is markedly different
Use your ideal level of contrast and ideal value in the outfit you are wearing to lessen the impact
Wear a lower neckline
Wear more makeup

Wearing Your Colours Your Way

Not all the colours in your palette may work well worn as a single colour above the waist, so you may need to wear additional colours or garments to add greater interest. For example, whilst your palette may contain light neutrals, these may not look the best in a block of colour on your upper body, however, if teamed with a scarf, necklace, or additional interest colours from your palette, it may work well.

Using the Colour Wheel to Create Colour Combinations

1. Neutral Plus – one or two neutrals with a colour.

2. Monochromatic – colours in the same shade but different lightness or darkness e.g. a variety of blues together.

3. Analogous – 2-3 colours that sit next to each other on the colour wheel, such as green with blue or navy with violet. Mix back with a neutral from your palette.

4. Triad – take 2 corners of a triad (see colour wheel), such as red and blue, and wear with a neutral to create a great colour combination that is easy on the eye. Great options include violet and green or yellow and blue. If you feel really adventurous you can add in the third colour of the triad.

5. Complementary – take two colours that are opposite on the colour wheel such as pink and green and team with a neutral for a bold look.

Always make sure when mixing colours that they are not combined in equal ratios, but instead try the 60/30/10 rule.

Easy Colour Combinations

Here are just a few possible colour combinations to consider when dressing – this list is by no means comprehensive, but may help you think outside your normal colour combining when dressing.

Grey – looks great with most other neutrals. Try it with black, brown and other shades of grey. Just be sure the colours are distinct enough to complement each other without blending together and looking muddy. It also works well with colours from violet through to yellow. Grey mixed with a light pink is seen as sociable, lilac is amicable, blue is conservative and red is energetic.

Brown - mixes well with beige for a relaxed look, red for a dynamic appearance, greens to be restful, blue for calmness and even pink.

Navy – mix it with red and white for an understated look, mauve or violet work well and are a more creative mix. Pink looks preppy, a mid blue will create animation, whilst blue stripes are upbeat.

SOPHISTICATED HAIR

When colouring your hair – for a natural look choose any of the following, or a combination from this list:

Medium Ash Brown
Dark Ashy Brown
Brunette
Deep Grey

Avoid adding any warm colour to your hair, be it a highlight in honey blonde or copper, caramel or red. When you are deciding on hair colour, hold a swatch of the colour up to your skin to see if the colour is flattering for your particular skin tone.

SOPHISTICATED MAKEUP

Foundation: match to skin
Blush: Rose (avoid anything peach or coral)
Eye Shadow: Base - cool beige, slate grey, soft pink
Contour: Cool browns, charcoal, slate blue
Highlight: Silver, champagne, pink
Eyeliner: Deep brown, charcoal, aubergine, navy and forest green
Mascara: Black brown, charcoal, navy
Lipstick: Cherry, plum, raisin, burgundy, raspberry, pinks and soft ruby reds